Sleepless Nights
by Whip-Owl
Summary: Al has a lot of sleepless nights while stuck in armor. Some of these are more eventful than others.
1. Chapter 1

(Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. This was originally just a bunch of silly one shots, but it changed from that. Now it's probably the first FMA story I try to keep the tone serious in some chapters, but overall tone and chapter length? No consistency here.)

Al sat on top of a hill in Resembool, grass blowing beneath him. He couldn't feel the grass, or the wind. It was dark, either really late or really early. He wasn't about to find out. If Al checked the time it probably would be further from morning than he thought, just making the wait worse. Ed wasn't here, asleep or awake. He was at Central applying to be a State Alchemist. Everyone else was sleeping by now. Nothing was happening in Resembool.

"Baahh!"

 _Well, almost nothing,_ Al thought.

He would've smiled if he still had a mouth. It probably would've been a weak smile, but a smile none the less. Looking across the field Al could see sheep spread across it, grazing. It wasn't exactly common to see that at night, but someone must be doing it regularly. It wasn't the first time Al had seen these sheep after sunset.

Feeling slightly better, Al looked up at the sky. There were so many stars across it, and an occasional shooting star passed by. The sky truly was beautiful at night. He'd never really noticed when he could sleep.

Al reached into his armor. He pulled out a notebook and a star chart. He flipped to an empty page in the notebook and started jotting down stars and constellations he could see. It was a good way to pass time at night. A year ago, when he was still new to having this body, he'd tried counting stars. That had been a terrible mistake. Even with all night to count, he'd never get it done, and he'd have to start all over again the next night. It just . . . felt like such a futile activity. With this, there was a sense of accomplishment every night. He could find constellations and certain stars, and he would have to start over eventually, but that was just because the star positions would change and he'd have something new to experience. And he was learning they existed in the first place. That might come in handy some day.

"Baahh!"

Al jumped slightly, but barely. His armor didn't even rattle. He looked down. A sheep had come right up to him. It stopped grazing and looked back up at him.

"Baahh!"

Al laughed slightly. He carefully pat the sheep's head, not wanting to accidently hurt it.

"Thanks for keeping my company," Al said. "But you should go join your friends."

He could see the other sheep. The closest one was still at the bottom of the hill. The sheep with Al stayed up there a little longer, grazing. Then it headed back down the hill.

Al looked back up at the stars. He still had a few to go.


	2. Chapter 2

Alphonse looked out the window, getting a view of Central. This was the first night he'd ever been in the city, Ed having been there a few weeks ago for his State Alchemist exam. The view was a nice change of pace. He liked Resembool, but if he looked outside at the Rockbell's house at night all he really ever saw was grass and sheep. There had also been stars, something largely missing here. Here there were street lights. In fact, many of the buildings still had lights on in them and people were still on the street. Of course many of them had their heads down and were hurrying . . . somewhere at this time of night. Even here, it would probably quiet down eventually.

Al turned away, back towards the room. It was a small room. Al sat on a cushioned chair. There was a desk in the corner, and Ed was sleeping on the only bed. Al sighed, but softly. He didn't want to wake Ed up, make him feel guilty. It was impressive enough Ed had actually gone to sleep in a bed with Al there. He always wanted to stay awake as long as possible for Al.

Al turned to the stack of books they'd left by the door when they came in. The books were from the Central library. Most of them were about Alchemy, but there was a also a history book, and Al might have slipped a book about cats into the pile.

For the moment, Al took an Alchemy book off the top. He opened it, started reading, and promptly did a double take. He checked the table of contents. This was new information. There was a lot of it in this book, if the table was anything to go by. Al . . . kind of wanted to laugh. This was great! He'd read something new tonight, and something new he was actually interested in. In the morning maybe he'd have a new idea on how to get their bodies back, or at least surprise Ed by casually mentioning things about alchemy he didn't know. He settled in reading.

By the end of the night, Al knew some new things about Alchemy, the history of central, and how to take care of cats.


	3. Chapter 3

Ed was sleeping, sprawled across the bed in a position that looked uncomfortable. They'd had a tiring day, lots of running around, and Ed had probably fallen asleep by accident. Of course Al couldn't feel tired even in the nonsleepy way, so it was a moot point for him.

What wasn't a moot point, was why Ed was so tired. Part of it was just that they'd had a busy day, but it probably didn't help that they'd gotten lost. They'd spent at least an hour running around Central, trying to find the place Ed was supposed to meet Mustang. It turned out, it wasn't all that important they got there on time, but the brothers hadn't known that at the time. So, seeing as Al couldn't sleep anyway, he could at least be useful. They'd probably be spending a lot of time in Central now, and his plan would be a nice change of pace from reading all night. Al slipped out the door as quietly as possibly and headed out of the building. It was time to give himself the self guided tour of Central.

* * *

 _This was a mistake._

One flaw in exploring Central at night was, Al still didn't know where he was going, and anyone he knew he could ask was asleep. He'd gotten himself lost again. All the buildings in this part of the city looked so similar, it was hard to tell if he was back tracking, going in circles, or on a totally new street. He wasn't panicking too much yet though. Central was big but it had to end. If he just kept walking straight in one direction he'd reach that eventually right?

Of course it was taking forever and even if he did find a way out of Central he'd have to find his way back to where he and Ed were staying and it was probably more early morning than night at this point meaning he was running out of time and. . .

Al stopped. The road ended in front of him. There was a building there, forcing him to go either right or left. So much for going to straight until he found an exit.

"AHHHH!" Al screamed, waving his hands in frustration. "I don't know where to go!"

As he shouted, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Excuse me, you lost?"

Al turned around. There was a boy standing on the street. Well, not a boy. He was obviously older than Al himself. That said, he sure didn't seem to be an adult either. The kid had blond hair, gray eyes, and looked like he could use a bath.

"A little," Al admitted. "I was hoping I could learn my way around if I came out. . ."

Behind the two of them, Al heard a clock go off. Apparently it was one in the morning. The kid started laughing.

"Hey!" Al objected, armor going rigid. "Now that's just rude."

"Sorry, it's just . . . you won't learn all about Central from one trip out alone. You'll forget." He still seemed amused, but before Al could complain the boy calmed down slightly and continued. "But, tell you what. You look like you could use a hand, and I've lived in Central my whole life. How about I give you a tour?" He ran a hand through his hair.

"A tour?" Al asked.

"Well sure!" the boy said, smiling and stepping back, swinging his arms. "I'm kind of a professional at that."

"You give professional tours at one in the morning?" Al questioned.

"No competition!" the boy pointed out cheerily, shrugging.

Well that didn't sound right, but it wasn't like the night could get much worse by following him. One thing was for sure, the guy was good at making a ridiculous argument sound reasonable. Al agreed and paid the fee, because of course there was a price, and the boy began his spiel.

"I'm Arthur, by the way," he introduced.

"Al."

As they went along, Al had to admit, it wasn't for nothing. Arthur lead him around with such confidence he could probably do it with his eyes closed. He pointed out some places that were, in his opinion, the best restaurants or cafes in Central. Maybe Ed could use that information. He showed Al a theater that did shows almost 24 hours. Central had some 'nocturnal residents', according to Arthur. Al had to admit, that would be handy. He showed Al a partially constructed building where they'd stopped construction to have an archaeological dig. It wasn't until three quarters of the way in, when they reached a more historic area, that anything felt off. The boy had said one of the buildings had been there since the founding of Amestris, when really it was built about five years later according to Al's history book. After that it became clear the boy had no idea what was going on in this side of Central, he was just making it up with confidence.

"So, those are our main stops," Arthur said.

 _Why didn't you just avoid historic Central?_ Al thought. He could've made it without busting himself if he'd done that.

Of course Arthur had no idea what Al was thinking about, and continued. "Where do you need to be?"

After Al told him about the hotel he was staying at, they ended the tour there, the boy waving a hand out dramatically at the hotel.

"Thank you," Al said. "You know, for someone running a scam, you're very good at what you do."

Arthur changed from smiling to blinking in shock a few times. Al meanwhile, just waved and walked back in. He wanted to be in before Ed was up now after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Al sat by the window, reading with the light from the streetlamp. It was mostly quiet out there. People in Central were up later than in Resembul, but it's not like anyone could stay up twenty four hours. Well, no one except Al.

Then he heard noises outside. Al turned around. There was a woman down there. She had come out of a darker road, making a sharp turn and running with something clutched to her chest, casting worried looks behind her. She was kind of short with blue eyes and brown hair pulled back. A larger man turned the corner after her. Al couldn't make out many details about him with his hood up, but he saw the man draw a knife out.

Al had seen enough he literally jumped out of the window, landing between the two people with a clang.

The woman screamed. The man stopped and turned slightly, apparently second guessing himself already.

"Leave her alone," Al said. The woman took a few steps back, looking between Al and the empty road ahead of them.

"Hey! What? No, no," the man said, shaking his head. "You've got this all wrong. She stole that from me."

He waved his free hand at the bag in the woman's arms, which she clung tighter to. Al paused for just a second. This might've been believable if the man didn't have a weapon, but he did, and their expression didn't seem right for that. No, Al had judged the situation correctly.

"I don't think she did actually," Al said.

The man growled. "You couldn't just leave it alone could you?"

He swung his knife. He was faster than Al expected and he managed to stab the softer brown part of Al's armor. Al made a panicked noise, but of course it didn't hurt, and he was pretty sure the man could tell something was wrong. He saw the man's eyes widen from under the hood.

Al grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm back. He was pretty sure the man was fighting back, but it was futile. The only thing holding Al back was he didn't really want to break the total stranger's wrist.

"I said, leave her alone."

Then Al let go. The man pulled his arm back to his side and took off running away from Al.

He could hear soft footsteps behind him.

"Thank you," the woman said quietly.

"Uh huh. I can take you home if you like," Al offered.

"Oh. Oh no I couldn't impose on you further. . ."

"No it's alright. I wasn't doing anything anyway," Al said. Really, it would be good to keep having things to do.

"Well, okay."

The woman smiled weakly and started away, Al following her.


	5. Chapter 5

The cart they were in went further down the road, horses clopping at the front, the carriage swaying slightly. The slow moving vehicle had put Ed to sleep quickly. Al of course, couldn't do that. He sat very still, pretending to sleep. At first, he hadn't minded. He talked to the driver for a while after Ed fell asleep. Even when Al had to pretend to sleep, so the driver and his partner wouldn't get suspicious, Al could watch the view of the horses and the scenery as it passed.

Unfortunately with the cover over the carriage it was hard to see anything except out the front, and that view was getting old. They'd been passing through the same grassland for about half an hour.

It was around then the driver yawned and beckoned his partner over. She was sitting by Ed. She quietly got up and tiptoed to the front, the two of them switching places. The previous driver went to sleep next to Ed soon after. Then they kept going. It seemed like talking to her wouldn't be an option. She knew he was supposed to be sleeping, and so far as either driver was concerned Al was a normal person. So even though he wanted to do something, anything, he couldn't. He couldn't let the drivers know sleep was impossible for him, but it was impossible, so he couldn't go to sleep either, no matter how appealing the idea. He was about ready to scream.

A few moments later, Al stifled a sigh. He really preferred traveling by trains. Shame Ed had gotten them banned from the one they'd been on.

He looked back the horses. Horses started with the letter 'h'. What other animals started with that?


	6. Chapter 6

Al wandered the theater in Central. There were shows going on almost twenty four hours, in fact he'd just been to one, but the whole place was still empty. With the mostly empty hall and the slightly disturbing carvings decorating the wall, it would make for a great haunted location. Al sighed. He didn't really want to go back to the hotel room and be alone, except for Ed sleeping. But was it really better here?

Then he heard something. A piano was playing. It was someplace still in the building, but out of sight and probably far away if the muffled sound was anything to go by. This was soon followed by someone singing.

 _What?_ Al wondered.

He slipped down the hall and quietly as possible, which admittedly wasn't very. At the end of the hall there was a green carpeted staircase going up and down. The sound was coming from the basement, so Al headed down. There were a few small rooms down there. Inside one of them he could see a woman playing the piano, while a man sang next to her.

The woman turned around and nodded with a smile. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her teeth were all white, but they looked chipped and not completely straight.

"Well I think that's enough for tonight sir, don't you?" she said.

The man seemed less inclined to agree but he still nodded and grabbed a bag off the ground. "Same time next week?"

"Same time next week," the woman agreed tiredly.

The man walked out the door and, still looking over his shoulder, promptly walked into Al. It was Al who yelled while the man took a step back and rubbed his face. Armor probably hurt to run into. The woman peered out of the room, looking surprised, and probably wondering what was going on.

"Sorry," Al apologized. "I didn't. . ." Well he couldn't say he hadn't seen the man. "I didn't expect you to move so fast."

"Well I'd like to get home sometime tonight," the man said, sounding irritated.

Al didn't like that, but he couldn't be too mad. This guy probably had a normal sleep schedule he was missing out on.

"What were you doing down here anyway?" the woman asked, just sounding curious.

"I heard music," Al answered. "I wanted to see what it was."

The man snorted, but he was sort of smiling now. "Well you've come to the right place. Martha here's the best singing teacher in Central."

"Oh." Martha looked surprised and clasped her hands together, looking down. "Well I wouldn't go that far."

"Can you teach me?" Al asked eagerly.

Martha looked back up at him in surprise. Al had to admit, the feeling was mutual. He hadn't been planning to say that, but he did need a way to spend the night. Or several nights. Most lessons weren't finished in a day.

"Well, um, I suppose I've got some more time before I have to go home."

Martha looked tired now that Al thought about it. Her speaking was kind of breathy and had shadows under her eyes. He felt bad. Maybe he could try and come back later. But Martha was smiling and there was a determined look in her eyes as she took a step back and gestured for him to come in.

"Great!" Al shouted.

The man just shook his head with a smile and headed up the stairs. Al followed Martha into the room as she talked about lessons and payment.

"We'll have to see what you can already do of course." She sat back down at her piano. "So we'll sing a few scales. Just relax, it's not like there's a grade. And you must remember, the most important part of singing is your breathing."

 _. . . Uh oh._

Al was not about to try explaining he didn't need to breath, because he had no body. He knew what breathing sounded like, he could fake it. And he did fake it that first lesson. Martha thought he sounded a little odd, but Al got better at faking his breath, to the point he did it even when he didn't have to.

(So you know in the anime how Al can sound out of the breath even though he doesn't breathe? Yeah.)


	7. Chapter 7

Al wandered around town. The place they'd stopped tonight was considerably larger than Resembul, but also considerably smaller than Central. Al didn't get lost. It didn't take long to explore, but they'd be there for a little while looking for immortality after talk about some strange things going on. It was good to know how to get around in advance.

Al sighed. He might as well head back. He'd brought some books. No library in town that he could see, but maybe he could find some way to stretch them out over the nights. He was passing a bar when someone ran past, bumping into Al. It was probably worse for the stranger than Al, but the stranger kept going. Two more people ran out of the bar.

"Stop that thief!" one shouted.

"I got it," Al offered.

The other person who'd come out shook her head. It was hard to see much of the woman. the blue jacket she was wearing covered a lot of her face. Al could see she had black hair under the hood, possibly dark brown, and her eyes were light brown. She was also running after the person from earlier. Al paused. The woman could probably handle it. The guy still by the door was probably talking to her in the first place, but it would be simpler for Al. He couldn't get tired. And this was better than reading all night. So Al turned and ran after the two.

He caught up to the woman, the man running was a little harder. The town wasn't particularly well lit, so the man kept disappearing into the shadows. A few times Al and the woman had to stop and look around. The woman pointed as a coattail disappeared around a corner one time. Another time Al shouted 'that way!', and one time the man just messed up by falling over some trashcans.

After that Al was gaining on him. It was clear he and the woman were tiring out, and tripping just let Al gain even more ground. The man glared, cursed, and dropped a sheet of paper. Al realized it had a familiar circle on it too late. The paper hit the ground and wall sprung up between Al and the man.

"Alchemy!" Al shouted. "That's not fair!" What was a thief even doing, knowing alchemy?

The woman had caught up by now, breathing heavily and grimacing when he said 'alchemy'. Al started to make a transmutation circle of his own, but he knew it would take too long. The man would probably be out of sight again by the time he was done.

The woman sighed softly and looked at the wall, clearly reluctant about something. Then she clapped her hands together and pressed them against the wall. It instantly disappeared.

 _Oh,_ Al thought.

The thief had made it to the end of the block, but he was still in sight and seemed very surprised by this.

"What? How is that possible?" he asked. "You shouldn't have finished that fast."

"And alchemists shouldn't be petty thieves," Al said. It was amazing really. Alchemy wasn't exactly common, yet here the three of them were.

The woman nodded and clapped again, pressing her hands against the pavement. It came roaring up and wrapped around the thief like a snake. Then she wiped her hands off and walked away. Al followed her, speaking as his mind finished processing.

"You . . . tried human transmutation didn't you?" Al asked.

The woman turned to him with a quiet gasp. Al could see fear in her eyes, but it disappeared, replaced by determination. The woman scowled and clapped her hands together. Al had the general idea about what she was going to do. He really should've cleared up that he wouldn't turn her in first.

"Wait!" Al cried. He lifted his helmet. The woman's jaw dropped. "I . . . tried too." He was silent for a moment as he took a guess. He didn't see anything missing from the woman, but she'd been very soundless during all this. "It cost you your voice didn't it?"

The woman looked sad and nodded, not making eye contact. Or, not looking where his head should be.

"I think you can guess what I lost," Al said, trying to make it a joke.

The woman's lips quirked up slightly, but they both knew it wasn't a very good joke. Then the woman crossed her arms and gestured towards the thief, shooting Al a questioning look.

"You can turn him in," Al said. "I should be going anyway."

He didn't have to leave really, but she probably needed the credit more than him, and now that that was done, he should just head back to the hotel. Who knew? Maybe he'd get another interesting interruption.


	8. Chapter 8

Al walked around town. He and Ed had explored and investigated during the day. The bartender from last night had certainly been surprised to see him again, but hadn't said anything. He had told the brothers a lot of alchemists had come through and given them the location the alchemists had gone to. It turned out there was just some old writing in the cave everyone was going to. Ed and Al were going to try and deceiver it. Al could be doing that now but . . . well he was a little tired of it. He probably needed a break before he could process the symbols, and Ed wanted to be involved anyway. So Al thought he'd explore town again.

It was silent mostly, glowing light coming from nearby windows. Then he passed one with the sound of piano music. Al looked in. Someone was playing inside. He looked back at the building, taking a step back to see better. There was a sign in the window about music lessons. The front labeled this place a music building, selling instruments and sheet music, not just teaching.

Al shrugged. _Well, I was already getting singing lessons,_ he thought.

Then he knocked on the door.

(This one ended up being shorter than I planned but . . . there really wasn't a reason to go further. Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed, followed, etc. so far.)


	9. Chapter 9

The Elrics would be leaving town the next day, but Al had to do something for his last night. He wasn't sure what. He'd read through his books multiple times by now. He really should've brought more.

Without really thinking about it, Al started walking towards the bar he'd seen on the first night. Part of that was probably because he'd already walked there three times.

He'd just turned the corner that would take him there when he saw a familiar figure. The mute alchemist from two nights ago was sitting on the curb across from the bar. She must've seen him too. She stood up and waved him over, smiling widely.

Al was surprised, both that she remembered him and was so happy to see him, but he walked over. He would've smiled if it was possible.

"Hi," Al said. He hoped the smile was apparent in his voice. Then he realized an awkward silence was stretching. At least, he thought it was awkward. "We never got to talk much before. I'm Alphonse." He extended a hand.

The woman reached for it, only to stop. Her mouth made an 'o' shape and she held up a finger in a 'one moment' gesture. She pulled out a little notepad and wrote in it. Then she showed Al, pointing to herself. 'Agate'.

"Is that your name?" Al asked.

Agate nodded.

"Well it's nice to meet you," Al said as the two shook hands. "Or, meet you again."

Agate laughed silently and nodded. The two of them sat down. Agate made a symbol in the dirt and looked up at him questioningly.

"Um. . ."

Al didn't understand. It looked like a number symbol? What was she asking? Agate frowned and made a circle in the top right corner.

"Oh!" Tic-tac-toe. She must've been offering to play. "Okay."

Al made an X in the middle. They played a few rounds, Agate wiping away the old game each time. They didn't make much progress though. Tic-tac-toe was a simple game, and they kept ending in a draw. Still, it was a game two people could play without any pieces, and it had been nice of Agate to offer.

"Do you live here? In town?" Al asked as she wiped the ground clean again.

Agate shook her head and scribbled on her notepad. 'I travel and help with alchemy.'

"Oh. My brother and I travel a lot too, and help if it comes up. We're looking for a way to get our bodies back."

Suddenly Agate looked afraid and pulled back a little.

"What? You don't think we should get our bodies back? Don't you want your voice back?" He tried not to sound frustrated.

Agate shook her head sadly, writing again. 'Not that. That kind of power's what got us in this mess in the first place.'

Al also felt himself leaning back now, away from the accusation. That wasn't true was it? They'd just wanted to bring their mom back. But, now they just wanted their bodies back. Well, Ed mostly wanted Al's body back but Al couldn't let Ed give up a chance for his body, especially since. . .

Al stopped thinking and focused back on Agate. He suddenly knew what to say.

"We have to try. That kind of power it also what my brother used to put me in this armor instead of . . . whatever happened to me before that. And he lost an arm for that. I have to help him get that back."

Agate looked mildly confused for part of his explanation and didn't seem completely convinced. Still, she shook her hand and flung her hands up, apparently in surrender. She then changed the subject, asking if they'd been to the writing the caverns. It turned out she'd gone down last week and had part of it translated. That would save some time tomorrow, though it didn't look promising.

Agate leaned forward and put her notepad in front of her mouth. She was stifling a yawn. Al could tell.

"Are you getting tired?" Al asked. Agate shrugged. "You should go get some rest. I should go back to my brother anyway."

Agate nodded, eyes already half shut. She smiled gratefully. Then she got up and headed one direction, waving to Al as she went.

"Bye!" Al called after her, turning and going the other way.

He tried not to worry about what she said. Al needed to help his brother, and he really didn't want to stay in this body, so they'd keep looking. But she was right in that seemed sort of similar to how they'd try human transmutation, despite the risks. Al decided if they figured out how to get their bodies back, he'd try and let her know anyway.


	10. Chapter 10

Ed and Al sat on the train back to Central. They'd been talking quietly for a long time, but Ed had fallen asleep. This was one of the few times Al minded, namely because Ed had fallen asleep leaning against him. He couldn't move without worrying out waking him. Al sat reading for a long time, and looking out the window. There wasn't much of a view, what with it being night, but what Al could see was mostly new and some of it beautiful.

"Excuse me?" a quiet voice said. Al turned and saw a boy, probably still in the single digits, with black hair and blue eyes looking up at him curiously. "Why are you wearing armor?"

For a moment Al froze, which was probably disconcerting seeing as he had no body to even twitch or blink. He'd been in the armor for about two years. How had he not thought of this? He had plenty of time to come with explanations at night yet here he was without a single reason.

"I . . . I need to," Al started. "It's for my alchemy training."

Okay. Anyone who knew about alchemy would know that didn't make sense, but how many people know anything about alchemy? Luckily the boy didn't seem to. A moment of realization crossed his face, then he smiled wide.

"Oh. So you're an alchemist?"

"Uh-huh," Al confirmed, nodding.

"That is so cool!" the boy exclaimed, bouncing slightly.

"Shh," Al warned, looking worriedly at Ed. Luckily, he was still asleep. _Honestly brother,_ Al thought. _The train could crash and you'd sleep through the whole thing wouldn't you?_ He turned back to the boy. "We should be quiet. My brother's sleeping." He pointed to Ed.

"Oh. But your not?"

It was an innocent question in retrospect, but Al instantly worried. "Neither are you," he pointed out.

"No." The boy shook his head. "I never want to go to sleep."

Al tried not to react. The boy didn't know. But why did it always have to be Al? Very few people would say they wanted an automail limb. No, no one would claim they wanted to be in Ed's position. Everyone said they didn't want to sleep.

"Don't say that. It's important your mind and body rest," Al explained as gently as he could. "Besides, you'd get lonely if everyone around you was sleeping."

The boy frowned and looked down slightly. "I guess that's true. . ."

"James!"

The boy turned. Apparently the person who called was his mother. She apologized for bother Al, to which he assured her it was no problem. An interruption at night was always welcome. Then she shepherded James away, Al waving after him.


	11. Chapter 11

(Could it be? A chapter from someone else's perspective? Also a bunch of canon characters. What is happening? That said I didn't edit this chapter as carefully as the last few, so hope it works out.)

Ed woke up suddenly almost all the time. Sometimes it was from nightmares. Luckily the nightmare part wasn't the case today. He just woke up, remembered what he had to do and that Al had to sit around waiting while he was asleep, and that got him up.

Only Al wasn't there. Ed looked around wildly, but he was the only one in the room with a couple of messed up sheets and an empty chair.

"Al? Al!"

Al didn't answer. Ed rubbed his head, wracking his brain. Where could Al have gone? Could someone have taken him? It wouldn't exactly be easy to kidnap him, and if that had happened Ed was pretty sure he would've woken up. This wasn't even Central where that was more likely. It was East City. But in that case what happened? Ed wouldn't be surprised if Al left the room sometimes at night, but he had to run out of things to do eventually, and surely he would've come back anyway. He knew when Ed usually got up and had always been there when Ed woke up before.

 _Enough,_ Ed thought.

He couldn't just stand there. He had to get out and look for Al.

* * *

A few people stared at Al as he ran down the street towards where he and Ed where staying. Al couldn't say he cared. He had to get back. He hadn't meant to be gone so long. It was just, on his way back he'd found someone injured. He brought the man to his home and helped him clean up as well as Al knew how. Then, because why not, Al had made him breakfast. By that point he realized it was six in the morning and he should really be getting back.

Al reached the building. The window was open, so he just climbed in through that, glad they were on the first floor.

Al was fake breathing heavily by the time he got. He looked around. Ed wasn't there.

"Brother? Brother where are you?!" Al called out, his armor rattling from how nervous he was.

He explored the room. It looked like Ed had woken up on his own, but he hadn't touched anything in the bathroom. Usually he would before leaving. At least Al sure hoped he brushed his teeth. So that meant he'd either left in a hurry or been kidnapped. Either way, Al had better go after him.

* * *

Ed ran up and down the streets, calling for Al. Sometimes he'd stop someone and ask if they'd seen a guy in armor, but no one had seen him yet. That was worrying. Al wasn't exactly easy to miss.

Ed turned a corner and slammed into someone. He actually bounced back slightly, rubbing his head.

"Sorry," the person said. "I guess I should've-Edward?"

Ed stopped and opened his eyes. He'd thought that voice sounded familiar, and apparently it was, if he knew who Ed was. Ed looked at him. It was Havoc.

"What are you doing?" Havoc continued.

"Looking for Al. He wasn't in the room when I woke up," Ed explained. "Have you seen him?"

Havoc shook his head and Ed tried to run off. "Hey hold up there," Havoc said, holding out a hand.

"I've still got to find Al."

"Yeah but, you can't just run around randomly all morning. Even if he stayed in the same spot outside he could take a while to find." Ed glowered at the sidewalk. Havoc had a point of course. Al could be anywhere. But Ed couldn't just sit and do nothing. "Come on," Havoc said. "Let's see if anyone at headquarters has seen him."

And then if they hadn't, Mustang would take over. The last thing Ed wanted was for Mustang to keep treating him like a child who couldn't even keep track of his own brother, and then for Ed to owe him something if he found Al, but it was probably better than running to every part of East City.

* * *

Al could've gone exploring the city searching for Ed, but he wasn't an idiot. Ed could be literally anywhere. So Al headed towards East City's headquarters. It was the most likely place for either of them to be, it had people who could help, and it was basically the tallest building in town. That was three wins right there.

Al wasn't officially a state alchemist, but most people in Eastern's command knew who he was and wouldn't stop him. Then he ran into Hawkeye shortly after coming in.

Hawkeye led him to Mustang's office. "Alphonse Elric here to see you sir," Hawkeye announced.

Mustang looked up. "Alphonse, something we can help you with?"

Al saw him looking around, probably expecting Ed.

"I'm looking for Edward. Have you seen him?" Al asked.

Mustang shook his head, frowning. "Is he missing?"

Al started to explain but he was interrupted when the door opened.

"Hey sir," the familiar voice of Havoc started. "Ed here-"

Al spun around. Sure enough, Ed was, reluctantly, following Havoc.

"Brother!" Al shouted. "There you are! I've been looking for you."

Ed made a face. Oh he was insulted. "You've been looking for me?!" Ed asked. Havoc stepped back, looking amused already. "You're the one disappearing from the room. Where the hell have you been?!"


	12. Chapter 12

Al walked through the empty halls of Eastern Command. He'd come to give Hawkeye some paperwork Ed had, grudgingly, filled out. He'd been successful with that. He'd found Hawkeye and had a nice little talk with her. He joked about how much Ed complained, only exaggerating slightly. Hawkeye had mentioned visiting a Rebecca, a friend of hers. However, it was late, and they seemed to be the last two there. Al knew Hawkeye needed to leave so he said his goodbyes first. He wasn't going to make her stick around.

Al had been planning to walk back then, but he realized there were some books at Eastern Command. He could always bring a few back for tonight. So he'd changed directions and headed down the dark empty halls. It would be silent too if he didn't clank so much. Then again, it would be kind of creepy then.

Al turned a corner and almost bumped into Colonel Mustang.

"Oh, sorry."

Mustang stopped and looked up at him. He seemed mildly surprised. "Alphonse? What are you doing here?"

"I was-I was looking for some books."

Mustang nodded. He was silent for the moment, and Al didn't know what was going on. Mustang's expression was hard to read. It was actually kind of disconcerting. He was starting to think he should say something else and break the silence.

"You have to stay up all night don't you?" Mustang asked.

"Uh-huh," Al confirmed, nodding.

"And you read all night?"

"Well, not every night," Al said, thinking of some of his misadventures. He wished he could smile. Some of them had been pretty good.

"I see." Mustang closed his eyes and smiled slightly himself. He looked back up at Al. "Tell me, do you know how to play chess?"


	13. Chapter 13

Martha stared up at Al, mouth open, eyes popping wide. Al couldn't say he blamed her. He may have walked a little fast into a short doorway, and knocked his helmet off. Al had hoped he was alone, that no one had seen that. It was late after all, and the building was mostly empty. Unfortunately, Martha was there. She was probably leaving for the night, if the case in her hand was anything to go by, but she was still there, and had still seen.

"Uh . . . Martha I-I can explain. . ." Al started.

Truth be told, he couldn't explain, even a little. All this time being awake, and he hadn't spent any coming up with a plausible excuse, at least, not for having no head. He'd thought about why he was wearing the armor a little more. To be fair, this possibility hadn't seemed to likely.

"Alphonse, this is . . . absolutely wonderful!" Martha explained.

"Wha-huh?"

Martha walked over with a smile on her face, going around Al like she was inspecting him. She probably was, though she was moving a little fast to be doing a good job. At least she couldn't see inside to his blood seal. She was too short.

"I'll admit, I have no idea how you're doing this. Some kind of alchemy I assume."

 _Something like that._

"But this presents so many possibilities. You know they have a play they've been trying to make a believable ghost for. Oh you'd be great at it. Everyone would think you're a normal person in a suit of armor then whoop, the helmet comes off and your empty."

"Really? You think I should be in a play?" Al asked.

"Well, I was just going to ask if you could do that to one of our actors, but if you prefer. . ."

Well he sure couldn't make anyone else a suit of armor.

"Won't the audience wonder how I did it?" Or freak out? Or already know how he did it? That was worst case scenario there.

Martha waved a hand dismissively. "Theater magic Alphonse. No one knows how we do some things, but they don't want to. It'll ruin the moment."

"Oh."

That was . . . risky. It would give Al something else to do at night, but there was a chance someone could suspect something. Or they could spread the word. Al should refuse. He really shouldn't do it.

"What kind of play are we talking about?" he asked.


	14. Chapter 14

Ed knew when he woke up Al would already be doing something. He was fine with that. He didn't like it when he woke up and Al was just sitting there. Al always assured him he'd found something to do, but Ed was sometimes a little skeptical. That said, he was used to seeing Al reading. He'd even woken up and found Al missing that one time, which he could've lived without but it all worked out. Still, he wasn't expecting this when he woke up.

Al was sitting in a chair, looking back and forth between a book and the yo-yos that were currently in his hands, one yo-yo per hand.

Ed just sat half up in bed for a moment, staring, and trying to process. "Al, what are you doing?"

"Oh. Good morning brother." Al waved, then went back to flicking his wrist, making one of the yo-yos roll along its string. "I'm learning to use yo-yos. There was a book on it at the library." The yo-yo abruptly stopped before reaching Al's hand, falling to the floor. "Hm. Well that wasn't right."

Ed watched for a moment longer. Al just tried again. Was that it? He just wanted to learn? It seemed so simple, but with how concentrated Al was, that had to have kept him busy. Ed smiled.

"Hey, I think you're doing great Al."


	15. Chapter 15

As it turned out, Al wasn't a great actor. He could say lines, but if he didn't sincerely feel them it showed in his awkwardness. There were only about ten audience members because of how late-early?-it was, but Al could tell they felt the same way.

Then his helmet came off and revealed there really was no one inside. The audience gasped. One person covered her mouth, eyes going wide. The person next to her leaned in and stared intently.

For a moment, Al was worried. If any of them knew anything about alchemy they could probably guess why Al was empty inside. If anyone knew someone who knew about alchemy the same problem was there. What was he thinking? Agreeing to reveal his secret for the world? Had he even talked to Ed about it? No of course not. This was it. This was the end.

Then the play continued, and the audience were lapping up every moment of it. At the end they all cheered. When Al left the stage two complimented him on what a 'neat', 'impressive', trick that was.

"Thank you," Al said. _What do you know? It's not the end of the world._

"Well what do you know? You're a regular celebrity now, aren't you?"

Al turned to the voice. It was Arthur. He looked, older now. Taller, and his face less round and looked like it needed a bit of a shave. Well, it had been a while since they met. Al was kind of impressed the guy remembered him.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Al answered. He decided to ignore, for the moment, that he'd already been pretty well known.

Arthur chuckled and leaned back. "Congratulations." He extended a hand.

Al shook it. He'd had plenty of practice hand shaking. He was good at doing it without needing to worry about crushing someone's hand now.

"Thank you," Al said.

The guy nodded. "Of course, this wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't given you a tour, and told you exactly where this place was and that it was open all day."

Before Al could finish processing what he'd said, or how to respond, Arthur pulled his hand away. Then he gave a cheeky grin and walked towards the exit, waving a hand in farewell.


	16. Chapter 16

"Hey Al!"

That was a familiar voice.

"Alphonse!"

It was getting closer, but Al instantly went from friendly recognition to being on guard. His body would've tense if he wasn't a suit of armor. As it was, the plates probably did get closer together. He heard them clank. Al turned around. Arthur was running towards him. At least, it looked like Arthur. Of course, the street lights were out on this street. Apparently in this part of town they only kept the lights running for part of the night, turning them off when everyone assumed it was too late for anyone to be out.

Al didn't voice his suspicions yet. "Hi Arthur," he greeted. "Is something wrong?"

"What? No." Arthur waved his hands. This was another cue something was wrong. He was waving his hands in front of his chest like Ed would. Last he'd seen, Arthur waved his hands vaguely to one side or the other, usually just one hand while the other was on his belt loop. "I just wanted to talk to you about that show the other night. How did you do that thing with the armor? Now that would be great information to share on a tour."

He knocked Al's metal chest. Al was quiet for a moment.

"Well I'd tell you," He started. "But you're not really Arthur."

"Huh. What are you talking about?" the person asked. "Of course I'm-"

"Don't try to trick me!" Al shouted, swinging a metal arm out. With a cry the person stepped back, ducking his head to avoid being hit. "I know your not." And really, his tone should've given away how serious he'd been about it.

The person looked at him in surprise for a moment, blinking stupidly. Then he laughed, and his voice instantly changed. It no longer sounded like Arthur.

"Alright, you got me." The person raised his hands in the air. "How'd you know?"

"Arthur doesn't know my full name," Al said. He'd introduced himself as Al. "After that, you had different behaviors that gave you away."

He turned around and started walking away.

"Hey!" The stranger shouted. He jogged after Al. He still looked like Arthur. "Aren't you concerned?"

"Not really," Al said.

There were plenty of reasons someone could look a lot like Arthur, and a few reasons they could be trying to kidnap Al. His brother was the Fullmetal Alchemist after all, and Al wasn't often confused for that himself.

"Well you should be. I mean, it wouldn't do any good if the real Arthur came upon us. Something might've happened to him."

Al caught the insinuation right away. He spun around, facing the stranger. The stranger seemed very happy with this change in reaction.

"What? What have you done to him?"

The stranger grinned. "Now why should I tell you that?"

Al let out a frustrated cry and grabbed his shoulders, squeezing. He could probably break this guy's shoulders if he wanted to, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that. That would be nasty. "Where's Arthur?"

The stranger's entire body was tensed up and he was glaring. He was obviously feeling pain. "I'm not telling."

 _This is a waste of time,_ Al thought.

He dropped the stranger, who fell of the curb onto the street with an 'oof', but Al didn't care. He was barely paying attention. He had to find Arthur now.

* * *

It occurred to Al, it was easier to find someone when you knew something about them. Or at least something about their look alike. Arthur could be literally anywhere in Central, or maybe not even in the city at all. Al had been running up and down the streets shouting for him for about an hour now. Not needing to rest, he'd covered a good part of Central, but so far he hadn't found Arthur. He'd barely found anyone. The only people he'd come into contact with were people poking their heads out of windows to tell him to be quiet.

 _I will not be quiet! Someone's in danger._

"Arthur! Ar-!"

Someone was coming out of a narrower street. She was younger than Al and heading straight for a collision with him.

"Woah!"

Al spun, trying to avoid hitting her. His foot fell partially on, partially off the curb, and he fell down.

"Ugh."

He'd take this as a good time not to feel pain. The girl, meanwhile, walked closer to him, peering down at helmet, where his eyes should be.

"Did you say you were looking for Arthur?"

"Yes, he's a friend of mine," Al answered. "He gives tours at night."

The girl's face lit up. "He's a friend of mine too! I know where he is."

"Really? That's great! Could you take me to him?"

Al got up. The girl rocked back on her heels slightly and seemed to be thinking it over.

"Well, okay."

* * *

The building the girl, apparently named Ruth, took him to was clearly old and a little run down. It was a one story building. No lights were on, and according to the signs outside, people thought no one lived here.

Al frowned. He could guess Arthur wasn't exactly living a great life, but this was worse than he imagined. Then they went inside. It was, at least, clean inside. There was bed stuffed in one corner, as well as a chair and table, which were in one piece. And sitting at the table, slumped over with his head on it, was Arthur.

"Arthur!" Al cried.

Arthur lifted his head, blinking blearily.

 _Oh,_ Al thought guiltily. He must've been asleep. This was later-earlier?-than Al usually visited.

"Al? What are you doing here?" Arthur leaned back. He looked around the table and saw Ruth. His lips quirked slightly. "Well at least I know how you got here."

"He was shouting all over town for you," Ruth said, nodding.

"There was a look a like pretending to be you earlier," Al explained. "He suggested he might've hurt you. I had to be sure."

"Well, I didn't know I had a look a like," Arthur said, scratching his chin in fake thoughtfulness. That ruled the twin theory out. "But, as you can see I'm fine. And don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

Well, at least he was safe. Al was glad for that.

(It's been a while hasn't it? I do have a few more ideas before I mark this story as complete, but I'm slowing down. Anyway I think everyone knows who the stranger was.)


	17. Chapter 17

The train whistled, plowing on through the night. Ed had the window seat. His face was currently plastered against it, as he'd fallen asleep. Al could still see out the window, but it was the middle of the night. He wasn't finding much.

Al didn't like this. In fact, it was probably worse than spending the nights alone or with just a sleeping Ed. Because indeed, there were plenty of people in this train car, but they were all asleep. Al didn't think he'd ever seen a group of people this quiet or still before. It was kind of uncomfortable. He was feeling something unpleasant. Claustrophobia? Could you even feel claustrophobic with no one near you? Either way, he had to do something.

 _Like what?_ Al wondered. _Even with no body, it's not like you're going to jump out of a moving train._

Suddenly Al's mind stilled, and the bad feeling disappeared, for the moment. The train was moving. Al was pretty sure that meant someone had to be awake to make it go.

 _Well now seems like a great time to talk to the conductor._

Al got up. He instantly clanked, and in the quiet of the car, the noise seemed louder and made him mentally grimace. But it wasn't too bad. The train was already making the rattling noise trains did, and the whistle had gone off without waking anyone up. So the only person Al was making uncomfortable was himself.

He kept walking, through this train cart and the one ahead of it to find the front. Despite the clanking, the man up front must not have heard him. He jumped when he turned and saw Al there.

"Oh. Sorry," Al said. He looked around. They were alone up here. "Are you the only person doing this work?"

The man scoffed. "Of course not. I'm the fireman. The driver's just in the bathroom. What are you doing here anyway?" he asked. "You should be back in the passenger cars."

"I'm sorry. I just. . ." Al paused for a moment. He just wanted company, but he doubted that would work as a reason. So he picked a topic that had sort of gotten the man talking before. "I was wondering how the train worked." People usually liked to talk about what they did, right?

"Not much to tell," the fireman said with a shrug. "We use the coal to make steam, the steam moves the pistons, and the pistons move the wheels. Speaking of which."He gestured for Al to step out of the way and, once Al had done so, shoveled some coal. He seemed to be shaking slightly, and Al could tell he was tired. He saw that face on Ed and Winry sometimes, when they tried too hard to stay up with him or when Winry pulled all-nighters to make automail.

"I can help," Al offered.

He couldn't get tired in a sleepy sense or a physical sense, he didn't feel things anymore. As much as he had complaints about that, he could focus on the positive here. He grabbed a shovel and put some coal in the fire with ease. The man watched. He seemed impressed, and maybe a little intimidated.

"If that's how the train moves, what are all these controls for?" Al asked, waving at the levers and cords up front.

"That's the safety valve," the fireman said, waving his hand while looking at something next to it. "It releases steam pressure." That explained the gauge he was looking at. "That's the whistle, and that's the break."

"Wow," Al said quietly.

He didn't get to stay much longer. The driver did indeed come back shortly after that. Al watched and asked questions a little longer. He offered to keep helping as well, but both men wanted Al to go back to seat for safety reasons. Al couldn't explain the usual safety issues didn't apply to him.

(I actually looked up some things about trains for this chapter, but not much. How much do you think I'm going to read for this one chapter?)


	18. Chapter 18

Al walked through the shelves of Eastern's library. They weren't particularly happy to have him here this late, but Al had been around a lot, they knew they could trust him. That, and they'd said something about someone else staying late as well. That was why when Al turned the corner he wasn't at all surprised to see someone there. He was surprised to see it was Hawkeye.

Hawkeye turned towards him almost immediatly. She must've heard him coming. "Evening Alphonse. Looking for a new book?"

"Uh, sort of. I mostly came to return the ones I had."

He turned to the shelf and started putting books back on the shelf. He'd had three from this section. Knowing where to put them was no problem.

Hawkeye frowned slightly. "I thought you read nonfiction," she said.

"I do mostly," Al confirmed. "But it's good to change things sometimes." Not to mention, he'd run out of nonfiction books if he kept going. "These mysteries are pretty good."

Nothing too outlandish usually happened in them, and Al could enjoy trying to figure out who did it.

Hawkeye nodded with a small smile. "I always thought so too."

She reached up and Al noticed she was also putting a book back, one he didn't recognize.

"Hey what are you reading?" he asked. "Maybe I could try it."

"This?" Hawkeye held the book up. She shook her head. "You don't want to start with this one Al. The author connects his stories."

"Oh." Did Al want to read them then? Series were always different than stand alone books.

Hawkeye pulled a book from a lower shelf. "This is the first one, if you'd like to read the same books I am."

Well he didn't want to refuse now. Who knew? Maybe he'd like it and he and Hawkeye could have something to talk about.

"Okay," Al said, taking it from her. He couldn't smile with a mouth, but he tried to smile with his voice. "Thank you Lieutenant."

"You're welcome Al."


	19. Chapter 19

(So uh . . . surprise?)

Al paused at the entrance to a school. He knew Ed would be waiting for him back at the hotel. They had to compare notes of what they'd found in town today. But there was a table set up at the front of the school and Al was curious.

"Excuse me," he started. "What's this for?"

"We're signing people up with a pen pal," the man at the table explained.

"Pen pals?" Al asked.

The man nodded. "Yes. So many people in Amestris live in isolation. And going to other countries just . . . isn't practical."

 _Right. That's the polite way to say we're at war with all of them and might be killed._ Although clearly not always. This man didn't look Amestrian, probably why he'd had the idea.

"So we've created a pen pal system with some of the farther off countries, ones not bordering us. Anyone can sign up and be in contact with someone from another country."

Well, Al could use something else to do at night. "I'd like to sign up."

* * *

Al sat in the hotel room, tapping a pen against the desk. It wasn't easy. He'd already crushed one pen, not realizing how hard he was pressing. This one he was holding too lightly and it kept escaping his grip.

He'd signed up for a pen pal without much problem. True, he didn't have a home address, but he just set it for where they usually stayed in East City. The only people who might pick it up there other than the Elrics were Mustang and the people under him. The man at the table had given him the name and address of his pen pal. Al just had to write a letter.

The problem was, what did he write? 'Hi, I'm Alphonse. I'm actually stuck in a suit of armor and my brother lost an arm and leg while we performed alchemy's ultimate taboo. Now we're wandering the country looking for a way to get our bodies back. So that's why it might take me a while to write back. That said, if you know how to get our bodies back let me know.'

No, that wouldn't work. He wasn't really sure he should write about their mom being dead or their dad having disappeared years ago either. A little heavy for a first letter. But that didn't leave him with a lot of topics.

He dropped the pen again. Al scooped it up, carefully, and looked up. It was only about midnight. Ed was asleep, sprawled out a cross the bed. How did he keep falling asleep in positions like that?

Al sighed. He had the rest of the night to figure out what to write, but he already felt like he was going a little crazy focusing on that.

 _Maybe I'll start the letter, and then take a break. And who knows, maybe if I start it, I'll know where to go from there,_ Al thought. He put his pen down and started writing.

* * *

'Dear Hunter,

I'm Al. I'm going to be your pen pal. I think you know you were getting one of those. I have an older brother named Ed. My brother and I are Alchemists. I've read a bit about your country, but I don't know if you have Alchemists. We transmute materials into something new, or just make things into new shapes.

We travel around Amestris a lot. It's nice to see new places and meet new people, but sometimes I don't think we're being very productive, and spending so little time in one place makes things complicated. I might not know I got your letter for a while, and we can't have any pets, like cats.

I've always wanted a cat, and we see so many strays I could pick up. I've even read some books on them, so I know how to take care of one, but Ed says we wouldn't be able to.

Anyway, I hope I hear from you soon. I'm looking forward to it.

Sincerely,

Alphonse'

* * *

Al set his pen down and looked at his letter. It seemed fine. It was still kind of short, but longer than he'd expected. He'd said what he could without getting too deep into his life. At least, he thought so. Yeah, that should be fine. And he'd dropped some important information like how he might not know he got a letter right away. He could mail this off in the morning. If they did know about alchemy, maybe Hunter could help him get their bodies back, but that was a long shot. It would be a very big coincidence if he happened to find an alchemist in another country, and one about the same age as him who could be helpful.

Al leaned back. If he were a normal person he'd go to bed now, and fall asleep feeling satisfied. But of course he couldn't do that. All he could do was find something else to do and probably forget he was satisfied in the first place.


	20. Chapter 20

(So thank you to the people who have reviewed, followed, etc.)

Al walked through the forest, behind a kid about his age. He'd introduced himself as Paul. Al looked behind them. They weren't far from town, a small one he and Ed were stopping at for the night. Al could still see lights from the street posts streaming out. But he wasn't surprised. He assumed they wouldn't be going too far.

"Thank you for inviting me along," Al said. There were exceptions, but most nights he spent alone.

"No problem," Paul said, nodding. "Thanks for agreeing to come owl watching. Most people don't want to stay up for it."

 _Better than staying up for no reason._

"Now uh . . . do you think you can move quietly. I don't want to startle any owls away."

"Okay," Al whispered.

He couldn't move completely silently of course. He'd tried, had plenty of time to practice. However, he could stop talking and move as little as possible. This seemed to be good enough for Paul, as he didn't complain.

They reached a small clearing, filled with a lot of rocks, and Paul climbed up onto a flat one. He Set his notebook down and held his pencil up to it.

"What happens now?" Al asked.

"We wait, and we listen. If I see any, I draw them. And I record all the ones I see and hear."

Al would've nodded, but that would've been more sound. Instead he just stared out into the forest. He didn't want to be rude, but this seemed a whole lot like most of his nights. Okay, sometimes he heard city sounds instead of forest sounds, but at this point he'd heard all the sounds night had to offer.

Then Paul lifted his head. "You hear that call?" he hissed. "That's a barred owl. They always make that 'who cooks for you' call, so it's easy to tell." He began scribbling on his notebook.

Well, now that Al thought about it, it did sound a little like 'who cooks for you'. He'd heard the noise before of course, but he hadn't realized what it was attached to.

"A-and that sound there, that was a screech owl. Look. I think that's it."

Paul pointed and Al looked in that direction. He could see a small bird of some sort flying over head. It was hard to make out the details, but Paul was sketching away.

They did this for at least another hour, Paul pointing out what they were seeing and hearing, until Paul grew silent. Al couldn't even hear the sound of his pencil scratching. He looked up. Paul was slumped over on the rock, breaths coming out slowly and subtly in a way that only happened when people were asleep. Al had seen a lot of sleeping people, he knew what he was talking about.

Al shook his head. Then he picked Paul up, and carried him back towards town.


	21. Chapter 21

"Hey Al? Whatever happened to that yo-yo?" Ed asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you learned how to use yo-yos, and you used to use them a lot. But you haven't in a while."

* * *

Sitting in their room that night, staring at the yo-yo in his hand, Al could admit Ed had a point. He knew some of the tricks, could still do them, but he couldn't remember what everything was called. And that wasn't the only thing he'd forgotten. The book had some more general information on yo-yos, terminology and history, but Al could only remember general facts. He had to face that, despite being a suit of armor with no body, his memories still worked like he had a human mind. He could only hold so much information, and he would forget things.

 _So now what? Do I read about yo-yos again?_

Al thought it over, and decided not to. If he read up on it again, he'd probably remember, but if he only had a limited amount of space in his nonexistent brain, then there were other things he'd like to remember. He looked at the stack of books he'd brought to their room.

 _I've always wanted to learn another language. . ._


	22. Chapter 22

"It's for you."

Ed held out a phone. Al glanced at him, but his brother looked as surprised as he was. They had been working, reading over research, when the phone rang. Ed had picked it up, and he was usually who people wanted to talk to, on the rare occasion they got phone calls. Who was calling specifically for Al?

Al took the phone. "Hello?"

"Alphonse."

"Oh. Lieutenant Hawkeye." He relaxed slightly. "What can I help you with?"

"It's nothing like that Al. I just wanted you to know you have a letter. By a Hunter Wright."

"Oh Hunter!"

"So you do know him."

"Uh huh." Al nodded, even though she couldn't see. Old habits and all that.

He thought about it. So he'd gotten a reply, but he couldn't read it from here. He could ask Hawkeye to read it over the phone, but he hadn't mentioned he'd be doing that. He certainly wouldn't want people in the military reading the letters he wrote, especially out loud.

"Thank you," Al said. "But if you could just leave it in our box, Ed and I will be back soon."

* * *

Dear Al,

What a coincidence. I have a brother who's one year younger than me. His name's Blaze. We do have a pet, but she's a bird. Blaze keeps trying to teach her to speak. It won't work. She's not a speaking bird and I told Blaze as much.

Anyway, you should tell me more about your travels. I'd love to see more of the world, but Blaze and I have never been farther than we could walk. Must be nice to have so many major cities, I hear they have more transportation. Have you ever been outside Amestris?

From Hunter

* * *

Al looked over the letter a few times. There was a lot he could talk about from what they'd seen on their travels. It seemed like when Hunter thought of Amestris he thought of Central, and there was a lot more to it than that, so Al could correct him there. But he also wanted to know more about what Hunter's home was like. There was one thing in particular he was already hung up on.

 _There are birds that can talk?_


	23. Chapter 23

Betty was tired. She'd been at the pet store all day and it had become woefully understaffed lately. But of course no one would fix that when she made everything run so smoothly. But now the day was almost over, and she could go home and sleep. She'd just closed the cash register when she heard a clank.

Betty's head snapped up and she looked around the store. She couldn't see anyone, but she had definetly heard that, and it hadn't been from the cash register.

She took a deep breath and stood up tall, trying to at least fake confidence. "Hello? Is someone out there?"

There was more clanking, getting closer, and a giant suit of armor, with seemingly glowing red eyes, peered around a shelf. Betty sucked more air in, and probably would've fainted on the spot if he hadn't spoken.

"I'm sorry. I just came here to see the cats."

That was a high pitched, young, and uncertain voice. How was someone like that in a giant suit of armor? And why? Okay, there could be a few explanations for why. Maybe he felt safer in there for example. But how?

"Come again?" Betty said. She'd been so caught up on the voice, she'd barely registered the words.

Whoever this person was, he stepped out from behind the shelf entirely and clasped his hands together. It just helped convince her he was nervous.

"I came here to see the cats. But, I can't have one and it looks like your closing. So I can just go if you like. . ."

He trailed off, pointing towards the door.

Betty sighed softly. So some kid had come here to see the animals. "That's not necessary. In fact, it's helpful for the animals to have some attention, so if you like . . . I could let the cats out."

The kid in the armor gasped. "You'd do that?"

Betty nodded. "Just for a little while. So you can pet them."

The kid seemed to like that idea, so Betty made sure the door was locked and there was nothing for the cats to get into, and then let four out. The boy in the armor really did like cats. He set to work petting them right away, letting them climb on his armor, and playing with the younger one.

Betty sat down on the floor and watched him, smiling faintly. Her eyes were getting heavy, but it was fine. This was an uncomfortable spot. She wouldn't fall asleep. Besides, she wanted to see this.

* * *

 _I stand corrected._

Betty opened her eyes. She was a little disoriented, but she knew just a few moments ago she'd been sitting and watching the boy in the armor play with cats, and now she was lying on the floor. When she pushed herself up, she realized the boy and the cats weren't in sight.

Betty gasped, jumped her feet, and started frantically looking around.

 _This is it. I blew it._

The cats were missing. Maybe other things were too. She was the person in the shop, she was going to get in trouble for letting someone wander around when it was closed and not pay attention to them.

She heard a meow. Betty froze and turned towards the noise. There, in the cage it belonged in, was one of the cats. It wasn't the only one either. All the cats were back in their cages.

Betty looked around the rest of the store, slower now. The armor boy wasn't in sight, but everything was put away, the animals were fed, and the place was clean. Cleaner than before she'd fallen asleep.

 _I stand corrected. Again._

(I considered doing this chapter from Al's perspective, like almost every other chapter, but this was an improvement.)


	24. Chapter 24

Al saw the water boiling and quickly turned the kettle off. It was late. He didn't want to wake Ed or Granny up. Al poured the water into a tea cup, put it on a small plate, and walked upstairs as quietly as he could. For once, that went pretty well. The sound of Winry working on automail covered his clanging noises.

Al walked into Winry's room. She was working at her desk, but there was also metal, automail, tools, and paperwork all over the room. Al carefully stepped over it or shuffled around it.

"I brought you some tea Winry," he said, setting it on the desk.

"Oh." Winry paused, looking at it and then up at him. "Thank you Al. What are you-Thank you."

Al didn't ask what she'd been about to say. With this body, there was a lot of things she could've been asking, only to remember the answer.

He nodded. "Uh huh."

Winry got back to work. Al stood there awkwardly for a moment. Well getting tea had been a good way to spend ten minuets, but as usual time just seemed to stretch on indefinitely at night, and watching Winry wasn't doing much to improve that, especially since he didn't really understand what she was doing. He'd tried reading about automail one night, and it wasn't like it was impossible to understand, it was just definitely Winry's area.

"How is it coming?" he asked.

"Alright," Winry said. "A little different though. Ed doesn't usually break his leg."

Well Al could agree with that. Really they should've come back sooner. Despite being short, Ed had grown a little, enough he stood kind of lopsided on his automail. But he didn't want to go back to Resembul until he landed from a fall at a strange angle, and broke his automail leg in entirety. Ed had, of course, tried to claim it wasn't his fault.

"Do you need any help?" Al asked.

"Do you know anything about automail?"

"Oh. Well, uh. . ."

Winry laughed slightly. She worked in silence for a few moments more. Al just stood there, wondering what he should do now.

Then Winry sighed. "If you want to help I have some large pieces of metal in that crate that need to be smaller. You can break them down with alchemy right?"

"Oh. Right!"

Al walked over to the crate and opened it. The metal in there really was huge. It came in large cubes that looked half the size of Winry and probably would be too heavy for any of them to lift if Al still had a body that had to worry about physical constraints like that. Instead he picked up two, set them down, and began to make a circle.

Did all of Winry's metal come like this? She had to get a fair amount to keep making automail right? How did she break it down? Or did most of it come how she needed, and she just happened to have a box like this? Maybe she'd gotten it for this exact purpose. For one of the brothers to help her with it.

Al paused and turned back to Winry. She didn't look at him, still working on Ed's leg. Al turned back to the metal cubes. Well, it didn't really matter in the end. It gave him something to do, and if she'd gotten these with that in mind, he should really be thanking her.


	25. Chapter 25

(Gotta love how randomly these chapters pop up. But I think we're reaching the end of this story. Like, we're going to hit canon soon, and there's not much to do then.)

Ed and Al were on a train, in the middle of nowhere, heading back to East City.

It was funny. There were always claims about immortality, ignoring the rules of alchemy, or other rumors about something that might help them get their bodies back. The brothers had known this, and expected lots of traveling when they left home. What they hadn't expected was a long periods of inactivity, but those happened. Right now, for instance, they were heading back to East City. They weren't going there following any leads, and no one had ordered them back. They simply had no where else to be.

It didn't help that they'd been in Central last night. Al had met up with Arthur and played cards with him in the middle of the night. So compared to that, tonight was almost doomed to be empty and long no matter what.

Most of the people in the train car were asleep. Ed had done his best to stay awake, but had dozed off not that long ago. Al had pointed out he could. He had a human body and needed to sleep after all. There was one other person in the train car who was still awake, but he was doing paper work, had a book out, and seemed to be trying his hardest to make sure no one would interact with him.

So that left Al on his own. He knew he would have to do something soon, to avoid going stir crazy. Luckily, he'd come prepared tonight. Al reached into his armor and pulled out a stack of newspapers tied together. He'd been collecting newspaper for about a year. He read most of the parts he wanted to read right away. News was most useful when it was current after all. But he kept some parts for later. He had at least a hundred crossword puzzles to go through in this stack.


	26. Chapter 26

(This chapter feels like I should've made it much earlier, but I only just thought of it.)

Al didn't like taking walks at night. Well, that was a bit of a generalization, and probably one that didn't make sense. He took walks all the time, it was one of the easiest things he could do on his own other than read, but it could be true. Walking alone at night played tricks on the mind. He was currently walking through a field. He was heading back to where he and Ed were staying, but he kept hearing things rustle in the grass. He found he frequently jumped and turned towards the noise only to not see anything.

Then one time he did see something. He heard rustling, and then he saw grass moving. The movement was sporadic, but getting closer. It could be something dangerous. Al was about ready to fight, when the rustling stopped and something climbed out of the grass, standing on the edge of the trail.

Al leaned closer, trying to tell what it was, but he couldn't. It was just a dark round shape against the path. Maybe it was a hedgehog, but that was just a guess.

Al stepped over the animal. It didn't respond. Al shook his head at himself and headed back. He'd over reacted.

This wasn't the first time this had happened. If he walked in the forest there was even more noise and movement. One time a squirrel passing over him had fallen and landed on his helmet. And cities could have the same effect sometimes. In Central, he could've sworn he saw eyes watching him in a darker corner of a building, but when he turned there was nothing there. And there couldn't be, could there?

So, while walking was a good way to spend time, it had its downsides.

He didn't have to worry about that anymore though. No, he'd reached the small town he and Ed were staying in.

 _So all I have to worry about, is what to do with the rest of the night._


	27. Chapter 27

(Oh look, a chapter that feels like it should've been earlier in the fic. Why did I, try to, write this in chronological order again? It's not like it's mandatory. In other news look who's not dead.)

Ed woke up, mouth open as he let in a sharp inhale, hands gripping his bed sheet. Luckily, his gasp hadn't be particularly loud, and the rest of him waking up wasn't very dramatic either. Hopefully no one would notice. His problems weren't for anyone else to worry about.

Not that anyone else was in the room except Al. His brother sat on the other side of the room, red eyes glowing out of his helmet. It looked like he was looking at Ed, but he hadn't reacted yet. He would've said something if he knew his brother was awake, right?

"Al?" Ed called out quietly. Al didn't respond. "Al!" Ed shouted.

What if something had gone wrong? Al had been in the armor with seemingly no issues, apart from the obvious ones of having no body, but something could still happen. Something could go wrong. There wasn't exactly a lot of information about bounded souls to go on.

"Ah!" Al exclaimed, jumping and spinning his head around, his armor rattling. "What is it brother?"

Ed sighed quietly in relief. "You weren't moving. I thought something might've happened."

"Sorry." Al tapped his helmet, a bit like he was waking himself up. "There wasn't much to do and I just got lost in though. I guess I lost focus on the world around me."

Ed smiled faintly. "It's okay Al."

And it was, but he was going to make sure Al had something to do at night from now on.


	28. Chapter 28

(I'm so unsure of when this takes place, but I feel like it could fall someplace between episode 18ish and episode 21? Also, I was going to write more chapters with these letters to ease into this one, but I didn't have many ideas, and it would've taken up more chapters in a row than I'd want.)

Al had a letter from Hunter. He liked getting these letters, and not just to learn more about their home, or to have something to do at night. Blaze had taken an interest in alchemy. Apparently transmutations were called remogrifications there, but the concept did exist, and Blaze learned more about it. Al was more than happy to tell him some of what he knew as well.

As for Hunter, well, he was the older brother. Al wondered if Ed thought like him sometimes. It would explain some of the ways his brother acted at times.

However it was still a night time activity, one Ed didn't even know about. So when Al got his letter, he waited, keeping it in his armor until night.

* * *

 _Dear Al,_

 _Hey, I can tell you like Amestris. I was wondering what the odds of living there are._

 _You know how the two of us, especially Blaze, were looking into alchemy. Unfortunately, Blaze was doing some experimenting that's apparently illegal. I should've been paying more attention, I know, but I barely understood what he was doing much less that it was illegal. We've got to leave, and you were the only person I could think of._

 _Hunter_

* * *

Al read the letter, then read it again. He knew Blaze was learning about alchemy, but like Hunter said, he didn't follow. There's never been any indication something was wrong. This was definitely sudden. And he still hadn't said what Blaze did.

Then again, Ed and Al had broken the law by trying human transmutation. They'd been able to keep going in their goals because they had kept it a secret for a while and lately it was seeming . . . like it had never really been a secret. He would hate to flee the country for that.

On the other hand, this was all a moot point. Amestris wasn't an easy country to move to, and not typically a desirable one.

Al looked around. Ling had fallen asleep on the couch, having climbed through the window not that long ago. Well, if he liked to make life so difficult for them, Al could give him something to handle.

* * *

 _Dear Hunter,_

 _I'm afraid Amestris isn't very good with foreigners. You've been getting my letters, so you can probably tell. Are you sure you have to leave the country? That sounds extreme. If you really do I'll help how I can though. I know some important people from Xing. You could always try going there. I'll make sure to introduce you to them._

 _From,_

 _Al_


	29. Chapter 29

Al sat over a phone book, feeling a little stressed. He glanced at Ed, who'd fallen asleep. To be fair, they'd had a long day. He'd probably just fallen asleep from being tired. But Al had things to worry about. It was now clear, beyond a doubt, the homunculus were looking for people who'd opened the portal. But he and Ed, mostly him, had friends, or at least acquaintances, who had opened the portal, who didn't know that.

He wasn't too worried about Teacher. She was good at staying on top of things, including what was happening to the brothers. But what about Jude? Or Agate? Ed didn't even know Agate existed.

And that brought up another issue. What if those two were perfectly safe, because no one knew about them? How could Al warn them without informing the homunculi?

He couldn't use a phone booth. Those were out in public. Hughes had died in one. But he couldn't go in person either. Aside from the fact they were both kind of far away, a suit of armor running around wasn't exactly inconspicuous. What about sending a letter? Would the homunculi intercept mail?

 _Wait,_ Al thought. _There are other phones in Central. Mustang uses the one in his office all the time._

Al glanced at Ed. They'd be looking for information on alkahestry tomorrow, but tomorrow was still a good ways off. Ed would be fine while Al slipped out, probably wouldn't even know Al had been gone.

So Al shoved the phone book in his armor and headed for Mustang's office.

* * *

Mustang's office was always empty and night, but it was even worse now that his team was gone. All the desks looked so bare. But there was a phone.

He called up the Hamburgang household first.

"Hamburgang residence. Can I help you?"

Al couldn't place the voice, but if he had to guess, he'd say it was the butler who answered the phone. Or maybe it was someone they hadn't met. It was very late after all. Most people were probably asleep.

"I'm sorry to call so late, but can I talk to Jude? It's an emergency."

"I was up anyway, but you know, I can't just let anyone who calls talk to our alchemist. Especially in the middle of the night."

"This is an emergency, and he knows me." Well sort of. He mostly knew Ed. "My name is Alphonse Elric."

It was quiet on the other end for a while. Al worried the man was going to say no, and Al would have to risk calling later.

"Alright. I'll ask Jude if he wants to talk to you. One moment."

It was silent again, but Al wasn't worried. He would just have to wait.

"Hello? Alphonse Elric?"

Yes, that was Jude. "Oh hi."

"Mr. Meissner said you had something to tell me. Apparently it's something important."

"Yeah." Al nodded, but wished he'd thought this through a bit more. He couldn't tell the whole truth, it would be so hard to believe. It wasn't like he hadn't had time to think of something. _I guess I'll just tell the truth, but vaguely._ "I wanted to warn you. Ed and I just got in trouble with some people in the government. They're looking for people who have tried human transmutation, and they're dangerous. They might come after you."

It was quiet on the other end of the line. "Danger from the government huh? Well, thank you for warning me Al. But I doubt I'm in much danger. As you know, I don't live particularly close to Central, and the rumors of my human transmutation aren't very wide spread. I doubt anyone would have much interest in me."

They absolutely would, but Al couldn't force Jude to take this seriously. "Okay," Al sighed. "Just, be careful alright."

"Of course Alphonse."

When that phone call was done, Al called the bar he'd seen Agate at. He didn't know where she lived after all, and he doubted she had a phone anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hello. I was looking for Agate, an alchemist."

"Hold on, the alchemist who used to work here? Never said anything, but could use alchemy without circles."

This guy paid a lot of attention. "Yeah her."

"You want to talk to her on the phone? Where she won't be able to talk back?"

"Uh. . ." Al suddenly realized how that could be a problem. True, the most important thing was the he warned her, but it would help to know her reaction.

The guy on the other end laughed. "Sorry kid, I just had to see your reaction. You couldn't talk to Agate anyway. She left."

"What? Where?"

"Don't know." Al could practically hear the guy shrugging. "She left ages ago. But last I heard, she was heading for Creta."

"Really? That's great!"

"Huh?"

Right, he wouldn't know why. But if Agate had gone to Creta, the homunculus wouldn't go after her.

"I mean, it's great to see new places, isn't it? Anyway, I should go."

Al hung up, and let out a sigh of relief. It was weird to sigh without lungs.

He looked around. He was still alone. But he should probably get out of here before Mustang showed up, or Ed woke up.


	30. Chapter 30

Al sat in the earth dome with Pride, tapping his fingers against the dirt. His conversation with Pride had ended a while ago. He'd then used the inspiration to think of as many words that started with a 'p' as he could. But they were still in the dome. Was it morning yet? Who knew. It was impossible to tell in the dome. That was sort of the idea. It was nothing new in many ways, but he did wish he knew what was happening with his brother.

What would happen when the Promised Day was over anyway? They couldn't very well just leave Al and Pride in the dome for the rest of their lives.

There was more clanging from Pride. It was getting distracting.

It was strange. Al knew it was late enough most people would've fallen asleep by now. It was one night he wasn't spending alone, and he wasn't actually talking to the person who was awake. Not that talking to Pride was an easy thing, but this line of thought had given him an idea.

"Do you need sleep?" Al asked.

Pride actually stopped clanging against Al's helmet for a moment. " **What?** "

"Uh . . . do you need to sleep? It seems like you homunculus don't." But then again, the first Greed had implied he had to. Al wasn't going to point that out though. He's probably just end up hearing why Greed sucked.

" **No,** " Pride said after being quiet for a moment. The clanging started back up. " **We don't need to sleep. Though not doing so does drain our Philosopher's Stones eventually.** "

Al filed the information away as something he wasn't sure would help, but could be useful down the line. Then he went back to thinking of words that started with a 'p'. If he ran out, he could always do this for the other six homunculus. Well, five letters. Greed and Gluttony both started with 'g'.

" **Why did you ask?** " Pride said. Al was a little surprised he'd broken the silence this time. " **Hoping to find someone like you?** "

The question sounded like an insult.

"No," Al said. He'd already met one person bonded to armor, not that that had been a good time. Al didn't need someone like him, certainly not a homunculus. "Just making conversation."

" **It sounds like you're getting bored.** "

"Don't count on in Pride," Al said. "I'm not bored at all. I have plenty of practice doing this."

He waited, not saying anything more. Pride's only response was to bang Al's helmet a little harder than usual. But Al would take that as a victory. He leaned back, and would've smiled if he could. There were plenty of things that had come in handy from staying up all night. He'd met new friends and learned new things. He'd never expected staying up all night would be good practice for anything, but here he was.

(Is this the end? I think this has to bed the end, for obvious reasons. This story ended up being 30 chapters long, and I never expected that when I started. So, thank you to everyone who read.)


End file.
